Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of Dynamite
Featuring the ‘same story three times’, there’s a new apocalyptic political thriller that’s getting movie fans properly riled up.
Having landed on Netflix on Friday (24 October), viewers are fuming over its ending.
With Idris Elba starring as the President and directed by Oscar-winning Kathryn Bigelow, A House of Dynamite tracks the 18 minutes that follow a nuclear missile being launched at the US.
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But the film features three segments, repeating the same minutes from three different perspectives: the White House Situation Room, the United States Strategic Command and then from the American President himself.
Each of those chapters ends up in the same place, as viewers are supposed to get a ‘deeper understanding of those nerve-wracking 18 minutes’.
Bigelow deliberately never explains the identities of those who launched the missile, and that’s not quite where the mystery ends.
That’s because after sitting through the three perspectives of the same 18 minutes, the president never actually makes a decision on whether he’ll allow the missile to hit Chicago to avoid a war or to retaliate.
Viewers never get to see the impact of it, basically. And they’re not happy to have been left on such a cliff-hanger.
One user slammed on X (formerly Twitter): “A House of Dynamite is terrible. Nobody wants to hear the same story 3 times and have it end without an end. Sad that so many good actors were involved in this rubbish.
“The Director literally antagonises viewers 3 times and then walks out the door. Don’t waste your time.”
Another echoed: “I would not waste your time watching A House of Dynamite. You spend two hours watching the same plot 3 times without any ending. Felt it had a great potential with the cast, but director let it down hugely.”
With a third hitting: “A House of Dynamite ended like someone accidentally deleted the last 10 pages of the script. Worst ending in the history of bad endings. Two hours I’ll never get back."
However, others weren't so angry about it, as someone said: “Mesmerized by A House of Dynamite. For me the perfect ending - any other would have validated specific aspects/functions of the system and invalidated others.
"It showed the most evolved and professionally staffed system setup to deal with this situation at its limits.”
As some say, those complaining ‘have probably missed the point of the film’.
What was the meaning behind A House of Dynamite's ending?
Noah Oppenheim, who wrote A House of Dynamite, explained the reasoning behind ending the film without any closure to RadioTimes.com.
“We chose the ending we did because Kathryn and I both believed that any other ending would let the audience off the hook," he explained. "We don't want to give the audience a clean and neat resolution.”
Oppenheim seems to have not wanted viewers to have an end and then simply go back to ‘everyday life’ and instead want them to ‘lean into a conversation’ about the real world.
Cast member Jason Clarke added: “This film – which is what Kathyrn does extraordinarily, I think – doesn't leave it with the movie.
“It leaves it with the audience."
A House of Dynamite is now streaming on Netflix.
Topics: Netflix, Idris Elba, TV and Film
Jess Battison